Li Xilie (Chinese: 李希烈) (died May 9, 786[2]) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the medieval Tang dynasty who, believing himself to be strong enough to claim imperial title, did so as the emperor of a new state of Chu. His efforts to expand Chu was repeatedly thwarted by generals loyal to Tang, however, and in 786, after he grew ill, he was killed with poison by his general Chen Xianqi.
^Li Xilie was said in the Zizhi Tongjian to be the son of a paternal cousin of Li Zhongchen's, and as Li Zhongchen was originally surnamed Dong (董), Li Xilie was probably originally surnamed Dong as well, but as Li Xilie's biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang do not positively indicate that he was, in fact, Li Zhongchen's cousin's son, it is not completely clear whether Li Xilie was originally surnamed Dong as well. Compare Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 225 with Old Book of Tang, vol. 145Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine and New Book of Tang, vol. 225, part 2Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine.